By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
North Korea Saturday condemned a U.N. resolution calling for the improvement of North Korean human rights, which was co-sponsored by South Korea.
The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee approved the resolution Friday by a vote of 95 to 24 with 26 abstentions.
The resolution is a product of a political plot to forcibly change the North Korean regime and its ideology, said Pak Dok-hun, deputy chief of North Korea's mission to the United States in New York. ``We urge other member nations to reject the attempt to politicize the issue.''
He also warned Seoul that it would pay the ``dearest price,'' calling its co-sponsorship anti-unification activity and a complete denial of inter-Korean agreements.
South Korea has not co-sponsored the resolution for the past 10 years of liberal rule under the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations in fear of souring bilateral relations.
The resolution excluded support for the Oct. 4 inter-Korean declaration, which was included in last year's one.
Instead, it stressed the need of inter-Korean dialogue, which is expected to help improve North Korea human rights, and demanded cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO) in a bid to punish rights violators.
The U.N. General Assembly, having 192 members, is expected to vote on it next month.
The resolution has no legal binding but is considered to reflect the majority view of world opinion.
North Korea has elevated its criticism of President Lee Myung-bak, threatening to sternly cope with him as declared.
Referring to Lee's remarks, made during his visit to the United States, the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said that they aimed at invading North Korea.
The President said in a meeting with Korean correspondents in Washington D.C. that South Korea's ultimate goal is to reunify the Korean Peninsula under free democracy.
North Korea threatened on Nov. 12 to stop border crossings between the two Korea's starting Dec. 1 in an apparent attempt to pressure Seoul to stop groups sending anti-North Korea leaflets and implement inter-Korean agreements.
The two Koreas are technically still at war as the Korean War (1950-53) ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.